Get yourself out of the "busy trap"
It's ruining your career, your leadership development and possibly your life...
Welcome back to Lead with Intention! And yes, that is a pretty bold sub header by me today, because I’m in that kind of mood.
Spicy. (And exhausted, because thanks peri menopausal insomnia! If anyone ever wants to commiserate/share notes, I’m here for it!)
A quick note and reminder from me before we get into today’s leadership advice…
International Women’s Day is this Saturday
I wrote earlier this week about 5 things you can consider ahead of IWD, and it’s really worth thinking about your role in this as a leader (man or woman), and what ACTION you can take to start moving the needle. In many ways, things are getting WORSE for women around the globe, and we need to start considering this as an emergency.
(my coaching offer is still open by the way, mentioned in the IWD post - if you’re a woman and a paid subscriber, I’m picking three of you at random and offering a free 30 min coaching session with me, so get in touch, as not all spots have been filled…yet!)
Ok, let’s talk getting caught up in the busy trap.
This is a topic that has come up in several coaching sessions I’ve led this week, so I wanted to revisit it here and hopefully offer some practical support to those of you who are trapped in the busy cycle and can’t see a way out.
“Everything is a priority”
“Everything is urgent”
“We don’t have enough resources”
“I’m short staffed”
“I’ll be more strategic once I’ve cleared my to do list”
“I just need a day with no meetings, so I can focus on planning”
Do any of these statements sound familiar? If so, you’re definitely not alone. The “busy trap” comes for us all in our careers and it can feel overwhelming.
The bad news is that getting caught up here can have many unintended consequences for us, even though we *think* we’re doing the right thing by rapidly whittling down an ever growing to do list.
The damaging impact of being stuck in “busy mode”
If you’ve ever struggled to sleep because all you can think about is what you haven’t done at work yet, or you have a to do list longer than your arm that never shrinks, or you’re feeling anxious about your career development and how you are perceived at work (knowing you have the skills and expertise to be seen as a strategic leader, but instead, being given the tactical work and treated accordingly), then you’re starting to get an idea of how being stuck in “busy mode” can affect you.
It can affect your work, your personal “brand”, your leadership credibility and impact, and most importantly, your health and wellbeing.
It’s not worth it.
So how can you escape this trap?